


Firestarter

by Marie_L



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender, Original Work
Genre: Alternate Universe - Space, Author only knows canon through osmosis, Blowing shit up for science, Cats, Fire Lord Zuko, Gen, I don't know what a Fire Lord is, Sorry?, Space Stations
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-02
Updated: 2019-06-02
Packaged: 2020-04-06 14:33:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,244
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19064599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marie_L/pseuds/Marie_L
Summary: Fire. In space. It's not a natural combination.





	Firestarter

**Author's Note:**

  * For [scribblemyname](https://archiveofourown.org/users/scribblemyname/gifts).



Fire. In space. You'd think one would snuff the other out. The problem, of course, is that humans don't live directly in the vacuum, but in small bubbles filled with flammable gas that happen to hang in space. Oxygen bubbles ripe for the spark, which even the smallest infants are taught to avoid, lest they blow the illustrious Orbital Air Temple straight to bits falling on the United Republic of Nations below.

Such was the dilemma of Lord Zuko, Prince of the Fire Nation, Minister of Electrical Engineering of the Orbital Air Temple, that the ancient art of fire-bending may have made a reoccurence. In him. He who lived in space.

Not good, as they say.

Naturally Zuko had heard all the legends of his tribe as a child. Of controlled firebombs and instant bonfires, of using the combustion of elements for mutual defense and personal combat. Personally, he thought it was all hogwash, fictional stories with moral lessons to entertain the youngsters, but not _literally_ true. May as well believe in telepathy and magic spells, too.

Zuko was man of science, of electrons and Q-factors and semiconductor diodes. So when he was trying to repair the plant hydrator in his quarters one day, and the thing suddenly _sparked_ – in fact, blew up would not be a exaggerated description, scaring the fuck of his pet cat Aang – under his fingers, naturally he sought a mechanical solution. Maybe a power surge from his probe? He checked; no unusual electrical activity. Maybe a buildup of electrostatic charge along some surface in his room? Unlikely, everything was made of plastic for a reason.

Aang slowly came back into his common room, and rubbed up against him, And straight from his fingers, something singed. Poor Aang howled. Zuko dropped his hand in his algae tank. This was no _discharge._

Cautiously, far away from his terrified fluffball, he experimented. With extra ventilation, a bowl of water and a chemical extinguisher at the ready. He placed a dry leaf in his sturdiest bowl and covered it with his hand. If this didn't work, it was the stupidest thing he'd ever tried to do. If it _did_ work, it still the stupidest thing he'd ever tried to do.

Zuko concentrated on the leaf. Imagined it smoldering, igniting. Imagined the rapid intake of oxygen, the exhale of heat and light and destruction that he'd always been taught to respect and fear. Suddenly there was pain under his hand and he lifted it. There, tiny flicker appeared. Due to the Temple's centrifugal rotation, it whisped off at an angle, as if blown by an invisible breath.

Aang popped up on the counter to investigate. “Rowr?” he said. Not so terrified after all. You know what they say about curiosity and cats, and Aang liked to get into everything. Zuko gave him a long scruff-like pet, and then snuffed the dangerous flame with his hand.

It didn't hurt.

Test Number Two he decided to try in the safer confines of a hood in a chemistry lab down in Earth Nation's department. That way he could increase oxygen flow, but also stifle it out if necessary. Other elements were also available, but he didn't want to come up with some ridiculous justification for it. Too much paperwork – virtual paper of course, whee were they, back down on a planet conveniently covered in trees.

Zuko honestly could have used a little paper about now, for it turned out, easily combustible materials were hard to come by on a station. Everything was so consciously reused and recycled and composted. He decided to go old school: Food. No more elemental use of fire than that. Somewhere in the family lore there had to be a barbeque, right? Plus he could share the results of his experiment with Aang.

So he blew a quarter paycheck on some high-end lab-grown meat, not the crappy tofu-ish stuff but something that resembled layers of fat and muscle. He started with a thin tiny slice, something he wouldn't mind ruining for a first try. For all he knew, the whole thing would reduce to ash instantly. For a good char, you needed _directional_ heat. Not every molecule imploding at once. So he concentrated on toasting only one end of the slice. Pushing the flame at the target, instead of igniting the entire thing.

This time he taped it, so he could study the phenomenon from the perspective of a camera instead of his own limited perception. Then closed his eyes and hovered his hand a few centimeters over the small slice. Air on, with his other hand on the draft switch to snuff it out if necessary. But the fire obeyed his command. Looking at the video later, it appeared to just start, ignite from nothing, a slight distance from his hand, and obediently pushed its heat at the edge of the meat. As soon as actual smoke appeared, he willed it off, and it did. Amazing.

The meat was crispy on one end and chewy on the far side, and utterly delicious. Fire Lord indeed. He decided to go for gold, and placed the entire slab on a plate under the hood. This time he pictured the fire as a two-dimensional layer, spreading across the exposed surface of the slab. Zuko rolled his hand over the top of the slab, as if making a scanning pass. And everywhere his hand waved over, the heat expanded. Fat rendered. Proteins denatured.

It made his stomach rumble. So he scarfed the whole slab right there in the lab. _Sorry,_ _Aang_ , he thought. _Go_ _hunt_ _your_ _own food._ Old school indeed.

Test Number was the most audacious, and possibly threatening to life and limb. But this time he was only subjecting himself to the experiment, instead of indirectly subjecting the whole station to it. His question was: did there need to be air contact between his hand and the flame for the firebending to work? In other words, could he do it in a suit, in space? Only one way to find out.

He donned a suit with the excuse to inspect a panel or something, and exited the Temple along the axis of the rotating core, where the pseudo-gravity was nonexistent. Along side him, he brought a small oxygen tank, one almost empty so it would blow up, or at least not much. In another stupid move, he set the tank adrift. Of course, if this didn't work, he'd have to go chasing the loose object. Or if this _really_ didn't work, he wouldn't be around to witness the damage, and thus wouldn't care.

Nevertheless, Zuko released the projectile. It floated vaguely away from him on its own inertia. And then he held out his hand and pictured where he wanted the fire to go. _There, not here._ That bubble, not his own fragile bubble within his suit, with his own flammable gases attached.

The tank burst into flames for three brilliant blue milliseconds, then burned itself out and shot back against the station with a _thwack_ , leaving a sooty mark. Man, how was he going to explain that to maintainence? By not explaining at all, that's how. In his suit, Zuko laughed and laughed, and wrangled a magnetic lasso to retrieve the very dead tank, lest it float away and ram into something.

Prince Zuko, Fire Lord. It had a nice ring to it. He couldn't wait for more barbeque when he got back.


End file.
